Thursday, March 16, 2006

First, the results on the old polls. The voters are mainly Hoosier Libertarians, with the numbers looking like this:

Voted for in '04:

Gividen 19Daniels 9Kernan 2

If given a second chance in '06:

Gividen 21Daniels 5Kernan 1None of the above 4

With the legislative session having just concluded, I thought the time was right to reflect on what just passed (or didn't), and to think about the 2007 legislative session.

My highlight was the passage of the eminent domain bill. It wasn't everything the defenders of private property rights could have wanted, but it is an improvement over what was law before, and we found that there are some legislators, like Dave Wolkins, who do respect private property.

My lowlight was the overactivity of the session. The old quote is that no one's life or liberty is safe when the legislature is in session. The short session is supposed to be for the consideration of emergency legislation. The only item that qualified was the eminent domain bill, in light of the state's "negoatiations" with the NK Hurst Company. Most everything else was just puffery designed to make the legislators look significant. Well, that doesn't explain Major Moves, does it?

My top priority for 2007 is across-the-board budget cuts of at least 1%. The full session is the budgetary session, so Libertarians need to put pressure on the GOP to make this their priority so long as they have the majority... which they might not have by time the session begins.

4 comments:

You missed the passage of the Lifetime Concealed Carry Permit legislation. SB 54 and HB 1176 are on the way to Daniel's desk. This, while not the optimal solution gets the Right to keep and bear arms back in the right hands. As for the others...unless eminent domain is outlawed the state will still use it. No means no, except where eminent domain is concerned. As for property taxes...neither party has any interest in a real solution, elimination of property taxes. The LP is the only one with an interest in returning ownership of property back to the individual.I like your polls, by the way. Nice way to gauge sentiments on the issues.

1 percent budget cut is doable but I believe the goal should be at least 2 percent considering that is closer to rate at which the budget is growing. The top priorities should be ( in no particular order) Overhaul of school funding, elimination of eminent domain, budget reduction, Elimination of redundant taxes such as personal property tax and dog tax.

1 or 2% are definitely rates that *can* be cut. Will the Republicans have the will to match their rhetoric? They haven't so far.

Michael's right- I did miss the concealed carry legislation. Just like the eminent domain bill, the privatization of the toll road, and most everything else- not optimal, but improvements.

I did miss a thumbs down item. It was a bill that requires people selling real estate through a realtor to use the full range of services of that realtor, whether they need to or not, so as to ensure the protection of the realtor's commission. Daniels signed this into law. Why so eager to grant this protectionism, after he spoke agressively against protectionism in his State of the State speech? The lobbying efforts must have been outstanding.

As for why Daniels would sign off on a bill to benefit Realtors in that fashion, I would think it was obvious. He received over $250,000 in donations from them in his last campaign. You have to repay that somehow, especially when you'll try running again. All that particular piece does is insure thata smart people won't be using realtors in the future.